NASA ramps up support to get Boeing's astronaut capsule flying after Butch and Suni fiasco

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA is throwing extra support and money behind Boeing’s troubled astronaut capsule to get it fixed and flying again as soon as possible.

Boeing’s Starliner capsule had so many problems in 2024 that its two test pilots were stuck at the International Space Station for nearly a year. NASA later reclassified the botched mission as a crew-endangering “Type A mishap,” its most severe ranking.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced Monday that Boeing should be ready to launch a new and improved Starliner to the space station — with cargo but no crew — by December. Astronauts will not strap in until 2028 because of the need for further safety redesigns that will take months, if not years, to complete.

Manager Dana Weigel stressed that everyone must be confident that all of Starliner's problems have been resolved before putting astronauts back on board.

“Bottom line: We’re on the right path," said NASA astronaut Woody Hoburg, who will command the next Starliner flight.

Hoburg said Starliner's original test pilots — Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, now both retired — are “American heroes and I am deeply humbled to follow in their footsteps.”

NASA always wanted two U.S.-based means of getting astronauts to and from orbit. The space agency shelled out billions of dollars to Boeing as well as SpaceX for ferry service once the space shuttles retired.

Elon Musk's SpaceX became the first private business to send astronauts to orbit in 2020. His company will launch its 14th crew for NASA later this week. After struggling to carry out a pair of empty Starliner test flights, Boeing's Starliner flew astronauts Wilmore and Williams, but they had to hitch a ride back with SpaceX nine months later.

SpaceX intends to phase out its Falcon 9 rockets and Dragon capsules in another few years and focus on its newer, larger Starship, which reached orbit for the first time Monday.

That is why NASA is so keen to redeem Boeing’s repeatedly bedeviled ride. The extra Starliner upgrades and new rocket certifications will cost NASA another $359 million, Weigel said. Among the many fixes: new valves and seals.

While the aging space station is due to be abandoned and deorbited by 2031, several private U.S. companies are working on their own orbital outposts that will need reliable taxi service. SpaceX's Starship is way too big to dock and Musk has moon and Mars travel as the company's overriding goals.

Why not simply bag Starliner and shop elsewhere?

“We always were committed to seeing this through with Boeing," Isaacman said, "and now we're on a very good path.”

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